


Coffee Break

by Hino



Category: Half-Life
Genre: Based on the swap au thing, Gen, I must confess I do like me a one sided crush scenario, I was reading snailmeamail's fic and I had ideas
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-07
Updated: 2021-02-07
Packaged: 2021-03-12 05:28:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 513
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29255238
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hino/pseuds/Hino
Summary: Security Chief Calhoun is a busy man. He has meetings to attend, posts to guard.And yet here he is, having coffee with a scientist that's caught his attention.
Comments: 4
Kudos: 34





	Coffee Break

**Author's Note:**

  * For [snailmeamail](https://archiveofourown.org/users/snailmeamail/gifts).



> Oops I made fic

There's a universe in the Security Chief's eyes, something Gordon Freeman notices only because he is sitting across from the man in the shitty Black Mesa cafeteria. Calhoun is not one to eat the slop they serve there, but Gordon has convinced him to sit and enjoy a coffee, and Calhoun had obliged, if only because he noticed how Gordon's hands had shaken ever so slightly, shoulders hunched and the lightest dusting of a blush on his cheeks.

Gordon realizes he's staring and quickly looks away, fingers drumming idly on his coffee mug.

His action makes Calhoun laugh softly, an eyebrow raised. "Somethin' up, Dr Freeman?" he asks, resting his elbow on the table and his chin in his palm. The coffee mug dangles loosely from his free hand and yet, the liquid doesn't spill from the lip. 

The cup comes around to his mouth when he notices how precarious his grip is, trying to cover up the oddity. Gordon doesn't notice. He's too busy being flustered by the question. His hands form the start of words, faltering several times before managing to sign something. _"Your eyes are very blue!"_

"Sure hope they are," Calhoun answers. Now it is Gordon's turn to raise an eyebrow. It's a smooth recovery for Calhoun. "I've been told the colour suits me."

He does not allude to the fact that if his eyes were to lose their shine, he would be Out Of A Job, among other things.

There's some sort of mundane charm that Calhoun has long forgot that comes from sitting here with Gordon. It takes a while to get the man to open up and stop being so nervous, but soon enough the good doctor is talking as fast as his hands can go, rambling about science and bugs and anything that comes to mind.

And despite the fact Calhoun knows he should have gone to report to the administrator an hour ago, he can't stop listening, eyes trained on Gordon as he explains how dragonflies mature.

Under the table, Calhoun pulls out his phone and presses a button.

Across the facility, the Administrator receives a wave of emails, ensuring he won't be ready to receive Calhoun until Calhoun himself deems its time.

Calhoun knows he has a job to do, but it's still somewhat disappointing when Gordon stops signing with a start, having seen his watch. 

_"Shit, I'm 20 minutes late!"_

"Mind your tongue, doc," Calhoun gently scolds as he stands, taking Gordon's coffee cup. "And get back on the lab, before Eli chews you out."

Placing both mugs in one hand, Calhoun gives Gordon a friendly push, motioning for him to get going.

Gordon tenses for a moment before practically sprinting across the cafeteria and out the door.

He's strange, Calhoun will give him that.

But he's pretty strange too, in comparison.

Calhoun realizes he's getting in too deep when the security office is full of guards teasing him with childish and playful chants of "Calhoun and Freeman, sitting in a tree" and he can't find it in himself to be bothered.


End file.
